Chapter 15. Dissociation and the “Volcanic Model” (3)

When we observe some chaotic movement, we often notice its pattern-like traces, as though it has a certain regularlity and predictability. However, if you look more closely, these traces are slightly different from one another. This pattern-like movement, in fact, has what is called a fluctuation. Think about wind ripples on the sand dune. Or, a wind-whipped flag. They show seemingly a regular shape or movement, i.e., but their width of the grooves of sand, or the traces movement of the flag, fluctuate and are a little different from each other. Even the most regular movement, such as the earth’s orbital path, is slightly different each time it turns around the sun. Are natural phenomena chaotic? They are. In fact, we cannot think of any phenomenon in the nature which is not chaotic. As for earthquakes, they certainly are. If we know that in certain area, it occurs roughly every some years, we predict the next one to some extent, but we never know exactly when. Hurricanes come in a same way. The volcanic activities that we will discuss have the same nature. Complex system is a system where many factors are connected in an intricate manner, and many movements in complex system are known to be chaotic. System as simple as a double pendulum with only two free parts (i.e. two centers of gravity of each pendulum) shows chaotic movement. Let alone natural phenomena with innumerable number of factors involved.
Human central nervous system is also a hyper- complex system. Whatever happens in the brain can have chaotic nature. Epileptic seizure, switch into mania or depression etc. all have some periodicity, but without exact predictably. Dissociative patients’ sudden switch into violent or emotional identity can have a serious influence on the patients’ and their family members’ life, but it is very difficult to foresee and prepare for.